Open robe gown

A 'Vintage Dress' for a Regency Period Wedding

This cream and floral silk dress was worn by Susanna Allen when she wed Lieutenant Gilbert Walker of the Royal Dunbarton Fusiliers, in Wexford, Ireland, on 18 March 1799.

Neither the fabric nor the style of the dress, however, are of the period. The textile design is typical of the silks being produced by weavers in Spitalfields, East London between 1750 and 1765, when brocaded naturalistic flowers on white grounds were highly fashionable. The ground of this fabric features a flush pattern of meandering foliage and bees.

The style of the gown is typical of the 1770s to 1780s, rather than of 1799. It features an English-back gown with the bodice closing at the front, and elbow length sleeves, which are finished with ruffles, and would have been worn with a petticoat made from the same fabric. As silks were very expensive, gowns were frequently remodelled, and/or handed on to poorer family members or servants. Susanna may have inherited the gown.

Precious heirlooms

Members of the Walker family settled in New Zealand during the 1800s. They brought Susanna's wedding gown to New Zealand as an heirloom, along with the brocaded silk shoes that she also wore, a locket with her portrait, letters, jewellery, and photographs. These are also in Te Papa’s collection.